Packing structure for eggs



Feb. 2, 1943. K. K. NEWSOM 2,310,110

PACKING STRUCTURE FOR EGGS Filed Juiy 29, 19:59 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Z 7 B15.3. Z

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INVENTOR A! TC 1?. HEM $0M HAS .A TTORNE Feb. 2, 1943.

K. K. NEWSOM PACKING STRUCTURE FOREGGS Filed July 29. 1959 IE IS.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG 5 IE'IB INVENTOR k/TCHEA/EE K/VE'WSd/V 19/5ATTORNEY Feb. 2, 1943. K. K. NEWSOM PACKING STRUCTURE FOR. EG GS FiledJuly 29, 19:59 Sheets-Sheet s IEIEZE INVENTOR k/Trfif/YEQ K /YW$0/V HISA TTORzVEY Patented Feb. 2, 1943 UNl'lED STATES PATENT OFFICE PACKINGSTRUCTURE FOR. EGGS Kitchener K. Newsom, San Francisco, Calif.Application July 29, 1939, Serial No. 287,312

9 Claims.

My invention relates generally to packing structures and moreparticularly to a structure for the packing of eggs or other fragileobjects wheren a plurality of alternating fillers and flats areemployed.

The egg industry has long been concerned with the problem of providingan economical and effective packing structure by means of which eggs maybe packed, shipped and stored in predetermined quantities with maximumfreedom from breakage. Because of the fragility of eggs it has beenfound desirable to separate the eggs from each other and this hasheretofore been accomplished by a filler and flat construction, thefiller providing individual cells for the eggs, and the flats providingmeans for positioning and supporting the egg within the cell. Thestructures now in use, however, possess certain objectionable featuresamong which is a lack of economy in egg carrying capacity compared tospace consumed; also the flats lack stability and have a tendency tobuckle under the weight of the eggs supported thereon when'the flat islifted from a stack; the loaded flats are difficult to remove from acase; the supporting surface of the egg seat is insufhcient to maintainthe egg secure in upright position for display purposes when the filleris removed from the flat; the fluid from broken eggs is free to flowinto adjacent egg seats; and portions of the filler have a tendency tomove laterally on the flat to disturb the position of the eggs and causebreakage. In my new packing structure, however, the foregoingobjectionable features are obviated."

The principal object of my invention, therefore, is to provide animproved packing structure for the safe handling, shipping and storageof eggs.

Other objects of my invention are: To provide an improved egg flathaving means thereon for stabilizing said flat; to provide an egg flatthat may be readily removed from a container or case; to provide, in apacking structure of the class described, means for preventing lateralmovement of the filler on the flat; to provide, in an egg flat, meansbounding the egg seats for increasing the seating surface of said seats;to provide, in an egg flat, means on a surface thereof for preventingthe spread of fluid from a broken egg; to provide, in a packingstructure of the class described, improved means for cushioning the topand bottom of the structure; and

to provide a structure of the class described capable of packing amaximum quantity of eggs in a minimum space.

mon type of flat and filler, the dotted My invention possesses otherobjects and features of advantage, some of which, together with theforegoing, will be set forth in the following description of myinvention. It is to be understood, however, that I do not limit myselfto this disclosure of the species of my invention, as I may adoptvariant embodiments thereof within the scope of the claims.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a fractional plan view of a packing structure illustratingone embodiment of my invention. A portion of one flat is shown brokenaway to disclose the relative position of an underlying filler and.flat.

F.gure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken in a plane indicated by theline 2--2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a plan View taken along the plane 3-3 of Figure 2 butfollowing the contour of the seating surface of the bottom flat of thestack, a portion of the bottom flat being broken away to show theposition of the cushioning fiat.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary plan yiew of the reverse or positioning sideof the flat.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary plan view of a comlines illustrating thelateral movability of a portion of the filler relative to the flat.

Figure 6 is a plan view of a fiat incorporating another embodiment of myinvention.

Figure '7- is a fractional vertical sectional view taken in the plane1-! of Figure 6.

- Figure 8 is a fractional vertical sectional view taken in the planet-8of Figure 6.

Figure 9 is a fractional vertical sectional view taken in the plane 9-9of Figure-1.

Broadly stated, my invention comprises a plurality of tiers ofalternating flats and fillers adapted for the packing of eggs andcapable of progressive assembly in a crate or container. Each flat ispreferably formed of a relatively thin rectangular sheet of materialhaving a pattern on one side thereof characterized bya repeated designwherein a depressed portion adapted to seat an egg end is bounded by aplurality of raised portions; the extent of the raised and depressedportions being such as to provide a reverse pattern on the opposite sideof said fiat so that when two flats are placed in superposed relationand the position of one is rotated 180 with respect to and rising abovethe common level thereof between adjacent raised portions. Each of saidridges is so disposed that a portion of the surface thereof forms acontinuation of the surface of the depressed portion which it bounds,whereby the surface area of each depression is increased to providemaximum support for an egg seated therein. These ridges further provide,between adjacent raised portions, a trough which lies between adjacentdepressed portions and serves to entrap the fluid from broken eggs andrestrain spreading thereof into adjacent depressions or egg seats.

A filler is provided for interposing between the confronting surfaces ofsuperposed flats and the same is preferably formed of a plurality ofintersecting strips of material adapted to provide cells each disposedbetween opposed depressions of superposed flats. Notches are provided atthe intersections of said strips conforming to the shape of the raisedportions of the flats and forming seats for such raised portions. Thebottom edgesof the strips between. the notches are adapted to seat onthe undeformed surface of the flat and within the troughs formed by thestiffening ridges thereof. Means is also provided on the edge portion ofsaid flat for engaging said filler for preventing lateral movement ofthe filler on the flat; and further means deforming adjacent edgeportions of the flat near a corner thereof is provided-to facilitateremoval of the flats from an egg case' or the like. Cushioning means isalso provided for protecting the top and bottom layers of eggs in astack of fllled flats and flllers which comprises a cushioning flatsuperimposed on each the top and bottom flat of the stack and so rotatedwith reference thereto that the raised portions of one flat are disposedbetween the raised portions of the other, with their extremities restingupon the stabilizing ridges thereof.

V My invention may be more fully understood by detailed reference to thedrawings: attention being first directed to Figures 1 through 4thereof.' Here a plurality of alternate fiatstl and fillers H areassembled in superimposed relation in a common type case or container 12formed of wood, corrugated board or other suitable material commonlyemployed by glee trade? The flats 9 are preferably formed of ifrelatively thin rectangular sheet of material having a'molded or pressedpattern on one side or the seating face I3 thereof characterized by arepeated'design wherein a depressed portion ll fltting an egg end isbounded by a plurality of raised portions l5, and all of such portionsbeing preferably of semispherical shape. The pattern formed by therepetition of the design. as illustrated in Figure 1, provides aplurality of alternating rows of depressed and raised portions whichextend both ways across the sheet parallel to the sides thereof with thedepressed portions disposed in staggered relation to the raisedportions. It will be observed from the drawings that the extent of thedepressed and raised portions is such as to provide a reverse pattern onthe opposite or positioning face l6 of the flat wherein a raised portionI1 is bounded by a plurality of depressed portions I8.

I prefer in practice to provide each flat with thirty-six depressedportions in the seating face thereof arranged in six rows of sixdepressed Portions each and with a like number of raised thereof and thenumber of depressions in each row, to suit the requirements of the user,all without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Each flat 9 is preferably formed of wood or other cellulose fibre,although laminated paper stock may be satisfactorilyemployed. Flatsformed of such material normally possess substantial resilience oryieldability which to a certain extent is desirable in preventingbreakage of eggs. However, such a flat, when loaded with eggs andhandled separately, is liable to buckle or so deform as to unseat theeggs and cause damage thereto. I obviate this objectionable feature inmy flat yet still retain the advantageous feature of the resilience ofthe flat material by providing means for stabilizing the flat whichpreferably comprises stabilizing ridges Iii disposed-on the seating faceof the flat about each depressed portion ll thereof and between adjacentraised portions I5. Said ridges are preferably formed integral with saidsheet material and rise above the general level of the flat but to aless height than the raised portions. Asshown in Figures 1 and 2, theseridges may join with and include a portion of the surface of each raisedportion and merge with each other to form a continuous annular ridge 2|bounding a depressed portion. Since these ridges are preferably,although not necessarily, molded from the sheet material of the flat,the reverse side thereof forms recesses or depressions 22 in thepositioning side of the flat.

It will be observed that each ridge is is so disposed with reference tothe depressed portion I! which it bounds and is of such contour that aportion of its surface forms a continuation of the surface of thedepressed portion to increase the size thereof and provide a substantialsupport for the end of an egg 23 seated therein. Such increased supportI have found is capable of maintaining an egg in upright positionwithout additional support so that a single flat may be fllled with eggsand handled and used for display purposes with little danger ofdislodging the eggs from their seats. In addition, the ridges l9 extendbetween the raised portions to form troughs 24 between adjacentdepressed portions. These troughs serve to collect fluid from brokeneggs and restrain its flow into adjacent depressed portions. The spreadof egg fluid into the depressions is particularly objectionable because,on drying, the fluid causes the eggs to stick to e seats so that theycannot be removed 4 without danger of breakage.

In order to facilitate removal of the flats from portions similarlydisposed. I have found that such flats when loaded with three dozen,eggs are neither too bulky nor too heavy for convenient flat near onecorner thereof a pair of segmental raised portions 26 having an arcuaterecess 21 in the top thereof through which the finger tips of the usermay be inserted to lift the corner of the flat and permit insertion-ofthe hand thereunder. A loaded flat ,can thus be readily removed from thecase without damagin the flngers of the user against the side of thecase or disturbing the seating of the eggs.

I wish to point out that the depressed and raised portions of the flatsare so disposed and arranged that when one flat is superposed aboveanother and the position of one rotated with respect to the position ofthe other, the axes of the depressions as well as those of the raisedportions in the confronting surfaces of the flats coincide. Thedepressed portions II in the seating face l3 of one fiat seats andsupports one end of the egg 23 while the opposite end of such egg iscapped and positioned by the depressed portion H3 in the confronting orpositioning face 16 of the other flat.

Filler ll, preferably formed of a plurality of intersecting strips 28 ofcardboard or the like, is interposed between the superposed flats andprovides an individual cushioning cell about each egg 23. These stripsat the intersections thereof are provided with arcuate notches 29 whichconform to the shape of the raised portions 15 or H of the flats toprovide seats therefor. The bottom edges of the strips between saidnotches are adapted to seat in the bottom of the troughs 24 on theseating face of one flat while the top edges thereof intermediate saidnotches bear upon the undeformed surface between the recesses 22 on thepositioning face of the other or superposed flat. It will be noted thatthe bottom edges of the strips being confined within the troughs preventlateral movement of the central portion of the filler upon the seatingsurface of the flat, thus giving greater stability to the entirestructure.

I further provide means on the fiat engaging the filler for preventinglateral movement on the flat of the end cells of the filler whichenclose the outer rows of depressed portions, such movement beingillustrated in Figure 5. For this purpose I prefer to employ thesegmental raised portions 26 which deform the edge portions of the flattogether'with similar raised portions 3| which are spaced therefrom andall of which preferably align with rows of raised portions IS.

The bottom edges of the filler are preferably notched to conform to thecontour of said segmental raised portions 26 and 3| so as to seatthereon and lock the outer cells of thefiller against lateral movementon the flat. The portions 3| may be provided with a recess 32 to furtherfacilitate removal of the flat.

My invention further contemplates the provision of means for cushioningthe top and bottom of a stack of flats and fillers to prevent injury totheeggs contained therein. For this purpose, as shown in Figures; and 3,I provide a cushioning flat 33 for the bottom flat 9 of the stack andwhich is identical therewith. The position of flat 33 is rotated 90 withrespect to the position of flat 3 whereby the raised portions of oneflat are disposed between the raised portions of the other with theextremities of the raised portions H on the positioning surface of flat9 resting upon the ridges 19 on the confronting surface of thecushioning flat 33. It will thus be seen that the ends of the eggs arespaced from the walls of the case i2 and cushioned from the directefiect of any blow upon the case. Furthermore, the cushioning flat lendsitself to speedy assembly with the stack and affords maximum protectionto the eggs contained therein.

While I have shown in Figure 2 only the bottom portion of the stack withits cushioning flat it will be understood that the top of the stack maybe protected in the same manner with a like cushioning flat similarlydisposed.

With reference to the embodiment illustrated in Figures 6, 7, and 8, aflat 34 is provided with depressed and raised portions 36 and 31,respectively, forming a pattern of like design to that heretoforedescribed in connection with Figure 1. A plurality of ridges 38 risingabove the general level of the flat bound each depression and arepreferably formed integral with the flat with anterior recesses 39. Aportion of the surface of each ridge forms a continuation of the surfaceof the depressed portion 36 bounded thereby to increase the seatingsurface thereof; and each ridge is disposed between the adjacentsurfaces of adjacent raised portions and serve to lend such stability tothe flat that the same may be handled without buckling or undue bendingwhen loaded with eggs.

Troughs or valleys 4| formed between adjacent depressed portions andbetween the adjacent surfaces of the raised portions by means of theridges 38 serve to prevent the fluid of a broken egg from spreading intoadjacent egg seats. In this connection I prefer that the ends of theridges be as close as practical to the surfaces of the raised portionsto restrict the flow of egg fluid the'rebetween.

The two edges of the, flat adjacent the outer rows of depressed portionsare each provided with a pair of spaced raised portions 42 which areadapted to engage the edges of any standard form of filler, such asshown in Figures 1 and 2, to prevent lateral movement of the end cellsthereof on the flat. Each of the raised portions 42 is provided with arecess 43 in the top thereof through which the fingers of the user maybe inserted to lift the flat from a container.

Applicant desires to point out that the staggering of the depressed andraised portions of the flats causes an overlapping of the egg ends ofadjacent layers of eggs in a stack (see Figure 2) and thus makespossible the packing of a maximum quantity of eggs in a minimum of spacewhich is an important economical factor in handling, shipping andstorage.

I claim:

1. In an egg flat formed of sheet material and having a pattern on oneside thereof wherein egg supporting portions depressed from a horizontalplane are bounded by a plurality of egg engaging portions disposedentirely above said plane, means for strengthening said flat comprisingridge means formed in said sheet material surrounding said eggsupporting portions, said ridge means forming junctures between saiddepressed and raised portions above said plane.

2. In an egg flat formed of sheet material and having a pattern on oneside thereof wherein egg supporting portions depressed from a'horizontalplane are bounded by a plurality of egg engaging portions disposedentirely above said plane, means for strengthening said flat comprisingridge means formed in said sheet material surrounding said-eggsupporting portions, said ridge means being disposed entirely above saidplane and forming junctures between said depressed andraised portions.

3. In an egg flat formed of sheet material and having a pattern on oneside thereof wherein a depressed portion is bounded by a plurality ofraised portions, means for stabilizing said flat comprising an annularridge concentric with said depressed portion merging with said raisedportions above the general level of said sheet.

4. In an egg flat formed from a sheet of material and having a patternon one side thereof wherein a depressed portion is bounded by aplurality of raised portions, means for strengthening said flatcomprising an annular ridge forming a rim of said depressed portionrising upwardly from the general level of said sheet-and merging withthe surface of each of said raised portions above the general level ofsaid sheet, said raised portions forming a reverse pattern said sheet.

5. In an egg flat formed of sheet material and having a pattem'on oneside thereof wherein a depressed portion is bounded by a plurality ofraised portions, means for strengthening said flat comprising an annularridge formed of integral portions of said sheet material including partof the surface of each of said raised portions, said annular ridgeforming a non-reentrant continuation" of the surfaces of said raisedportions and said depressed portions. 7

6. In an egg flat formed from a sheet of material and having-a patternon one side thereof wherein a semi-spherical depressed portion isbounded by a plurality of semi-spherical raised on the other side ofportions, means for strengthening said flat comprising annularstabilizing ridges formed in said sheet concentric with said depressedportions and forming aconnection between said raised portions above theplane of said sheet and having a surface thereof forming a continuationof the surface of said depressed portion.

7. An egg flat formed of sheet material having a pattern on-one sidethereof characterized by a repeated design wherein a depressed portionof the sheet is bounded by a plurality of raised portions, therepetition of said design providing a plurality of alternating rows ofdepressed and raised portions extending both ways across the sheet withthe depressed portions disposed in staggered relation to the, raisedportions, and annular ridges formed'in said sheet bounding saiddepressed portions, one side of the material forming each of said ridgesbeing a continuation of the surface of said depressed portion, theopposite side of the last-mentioned material forming a continuation ofthe surface of the adjacent raised portions, said ridges forming troughsbetween adjacent raised portions. l

8. In an egg flat formed from a sheet of material and having a patternon one side thereof characterized by a repeated design wherein adepressed portion of the sheet is bounded by a plurality of raisedportions, the repetition of said design providing a plurality ofalternating rows of depressed and raised portions extending both waysacross the sheet with the depressed portions disposed in staggeredrelation to the raised portions, and undulated recessed ridges formed ofintegral portions of said sheet bounding said depressed portions andconnecting said adjacent raised portions to provide atrough therebetweenthe undulations of said ridges being above the plane of said sheet.

9. In an e g packing structure a pair of superposed flats eachcomprising a rectangular sheet of material having a pattern .on one sidethereof characterized by a repeated design wherein a depressed portionis bounded by a plurality of raised portions, the repetition of saiddesign providing a plurality of alternating rows of depressed and raisedportions extending both ways across the flat parallel to the edgesthereof with the depressed portions disposed in staggered relation tothe raised portions, ridges formed on said sheet bounding said depressedportions and merging with said raised portions to provide a troughbetween adjacent raised portions, the opposed upper and lower surfacesof the materials forming said ridges respectively forming surfaces ofsaid depressed and raised portions, said pattern of said depressed andraised portions being reversed on the opposite side of said sheet; oneof said flats occupying a position rotated 180 with respect to thepositidn of the other of said flats whereby each row of depressions inthe surface of one flat is axially aligned with similar depressions inthe confronting surface of the other flat, a plurality of intersectingstrips .of material positioned between said flats to provide betweeneach opposed and related pair of depressions an enclosed cell in whichan egg may be placed with the opposite ends thereof disposed in saidopposed depressions,

' said strips of material at the intersections thereof being providedwith notches which conform to the shape of said raised portions ofthe-flats to provide seats for said raised portions, and the bottomedges of said strips between said notches being adapted to seat in saidtroughs of the bottom flat.

KITCHENER K. NEWSOM.

